After the riots in reaction to the death of Nahel in July, the executive quickly emphasized the responsibility of parents, Emmanuel Macron and his government relaunching the idea [récurrente à droite] to sanction them financially “from the first stupidity” of their offspring, as the Head of State had said. “Naturally we cannot have a systematic answer, we have to do it on a case by case basis”declared Friday on France Info Éric Dupond-Morettiinviting us to distinguish “the parents who are able, and who are not, and then the overwhelmed mother”.
Half of the offenses are property crimes
“Among the rioters, many, 60% of them, are raised by a single parent, often their mother,” he also indicated, always advocating “firmness” but also “humanity” . Those under 18 represent around a third of the people who participated in the riots following the death of Nahel, 17, killed at the end of June by a police officer during a road check in Nanterre.
In total, 1,180 minors were identified by the courts as perpetrators of offenses during the riots, the Chancellery said. Of these, 59% were aged 16 and 17, and 40% were aged 13 to 15 – the overwhelming majority boys (96%). Half of the offenses committed are attacks on property (such as looting of stores) and they are very little concerned by damage to public property such as town halls and schools (approximately 2-3%).
The idea of sanctioning the supposed laxity of parents
Among the projects (parental authority, social networks, municipal police, etc.) opened by the Head of State after the riots, one concerns the question of “better support, better accountability and sometimes better punishment” of parents of child perpetrators. of violence. First measurements are expected at the end of October.
The idea of sanctioning the supposed laxity of parents, defended by some political leaders, is denounced as “simplistic” by elected officials, magistrates or family associations who argue that society is less and less on the side of families due to of the saturation of the systems intended to help them.